Batista’s a ‘Natural Athlete,’ Says Gracie

Former World Wrestling Entertainment star Dave Batista started a
two-day training stint with the Cesar
Gracie camp Wednesday after Strikeforce helped facilitate the
connection with the potential signee and the noted California
gym.

Gracie told Sherdog.com that Batista arrived this afternoon and
worked out with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields
and rolled with welterweight champion Nick Diaz at
the Cesar
Gracie gym in Lodi, Calif.

Gracie said that his initial read of the 41-year-old pro wrestler
was that he is a “natural athlete.”

“He’s got a lot to learn but his strength alone is impressive,”
Gracie told Sherdog.com Wednesday evening. “Obviously he’s a
beginner at jiu-jitsu but we can take a guy like that that’s
already a strong athlete like that and teach him what to not get
caught in.”

Gracie said Batista, who grew up in Washington D.C., wrestled in
high school and has some background in traditional martial arts
standup fighting.

“He’s a pretty good kicker,” said Gracie. “He hits very hard.”

Gracie said he, Batista, training partner Imani Lee and
Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou were to meet Wednesday evening to
discuss a game plan to get Batista ready for a pro MMA fight.

Strikeforce is negotiating with the multi-time Wrestlemania
headliner to try his hand in MMA. A long-time fan of the sport, who
has reportedly trained at the Affliction training facility in Los
Angeles, Batista began talks with Strikeforce last month after
ending a lucrative eight-year run with the WWE. Batista said in
interviews that he had become disillusioned with the industry and
has recently pursued film acting.

“I did discuss it with him and he told me he was definitely
interested in doing an MMA fight, so that’s the game plan and I
think what we’re going to discuss is a training schedule and some
serious hardcore training,” said Gracie. “I think they realized
when they were training with my guys today, they were amazed.”

Gracie said the connection started with Lee, who fought on the same
Dream 14 card as Nick Diaz in
May.

“Nick and Imani, they started working, talking and working
technique and then Imani expressed his desire to come up,” Gracie
said.

Batista and Lee tried to contact Diaz for several days after the
event, Gracie said, but were unsuccessful. They went to Strikeforce
for help reaching Gracie, and the promotion facilitated the
connection.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has said he would be interested to see
Batista tested in the MMA cage, and is particularly interested in
matching him with another WWE alumnus in Bobby
Lashley.

Gracie said he can see where promoters would be interested in
Batista because he is “very charismatic, very self confident . . .
definitely a presence.”

Asked when he thinks Batista would be ready for a pro fight, Gracie
said it would depend on who his opponent is.

“You’re talking about a guy who is very powerful, very strong and
an extremely hard worker, and if he can put it all together he
could be a very formidable force,” he said. “And he’s at the right
camp for that… Our camp is known for bringing people with nothing
and making them into something. We like to make champs.”

This article was updated Thursday at 12:37 a.m. with information
from Cesar Gracie.